Condé Nast Traveller & NIRAV MODI present Hot Tables, and this edition will feature the man with the Michelin touch

It’s been many months in the works—and now we’re making it official: As part of the Condé Nast Traveller Hot Tablesseries of exclusive culinary experiences, we are bringing celebrity chef Massimo Bottura to India for the very first time—for a one-night-only, exclusive meal! Bottura’s Modena-based restaurant, Osteria Francescana, was rated #1 on the San Pellegrino World’s Top 50 Restaurants 2016 list. Our dinner takes place on 22 November2017 at The Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai, and is in partnership with jeweller-to-the-stars Nirav Modi, who shares with Bottura a love of great food, fine art and classical music.

The Massimo Bottura experienceThis summer, I had the chance to visit Italy, and Bottura was kind enough to invite me into the private wine cellar of the restaurant for a leisurely 12-course, four-hour lunch. To say that it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience is an understatement. He is lively, animated, warm and friendly—and his passion for food, art and music is evident: not only is the art in his restaurant museum-worthy (think works by Damien Hirst, Ólafur Elíasson and Maurizio Cattelan), he practically dances around while explaining the philosophy behind his food. “It must be fun,” he explained to me when servers brought out a summer cocktail made of sparkling wine and fruit.

Oops! I Dropped the Lemon Tart. Photo: Callo Albanese & Sueo

That afternoon, Bottura’s menu comprised his signature dishes, including the Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano in different textures and temperatures. There was nothing on the plate but this local cheese, each bit aged and treated differently, as a foam, as a crisp, as a liquid—and true fans know the chef invented this dish in the aftermath of the 2012 earthquakes in Italy, when about £100m worth of cheeses was destroyed, threatening to further devastate the local economy. His signature dessert, ‘Oops! I Dropped the Lemon Tart’ is another feat, incorporating unexpected ingredients such as naturally salty capers, lemongrass, candied bergamot and mint sauce. Bottura’s pastry chef accidentally dropped the dessert in the kitchen, and the resulting splatter inspired Bottura to not only serve and name the dish after the incident, he even had a serving plate customised for it—with a deliberate crack.

So, what’s cooking in Mumbai?We don’t want to give it all away, but for the dinner on 22 November, Bottura has created a five-course meal. Signature dishes will be on the menu, including the world-famous ‘The Crunchy Part of the Lasagna’, featuring a vegetarian ragu and airy béchamel sauce. It’s Bottura’s spin on the classic Italian recipe, and it pays homage to his grandmother, under whose kitchen table the legend first discovered his love of food.

Bottura doesn’t feel the need to stick to time-tested recipes, he tells us in this exclusive interview. So, expect surprises.

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